On big point about this: application developers may start to build their applications on solid APIs.
Also, those libraries now can be ported to platforms like Mac OS X and Windows. So in the next few weeks/months, the first KDE applications will come to other platforms. Tomorrow I will introduce one or two applications to you… so stay tuned.

Hi folks, I just want to spread a real cool contest. The KDE Artists are searching for wallpapers. The winning ones will ship with KDE4.0.
So here is the official announcement:

This time it’s up to you show how good you are!

We’re making a contest to completely renew the set of default wallpapers shipping with KDE 4.
Rules are very simple, submissions are accepted until 00:00 (CET) of the 20th August 2007, resolution should be big enough to fit well into bigger screens and images must be released under a free license (that we will decide with you later).
Remember that we welcome ANY type of art, vectors, photos, pixel art, 3D stuff, pizzas…. and you’re free to choose whatever color or style or message you prefer, the requirement is just that the final work looks good (especially remember that it will be used as a wallpaper).
Basically everything else you need to know is already written on the contest website (done by me), which you can find at http://pd.ruphy.org.

Today I decided to start a small series of posts about KDE (Kool Desktop Environment) and its Version 4.0.

KDE together with Linux is something you would call an operating system. Linux does the stuff down at the Hardware level and KDE ist the Graphical User Interface
You can compare it with Windows or Mac OS X. They give us a bunch of applications, we need in our daily life.
Windows is known by everybody, Mac OS X iss nice and Linux is just something nerds might use.

Last week I’ve read a comment which said “Most people and enterprises have not noticed, that they use their operating system just to start up their browser.”.
So I tried to count which applications I really need at home.

Mac OS X – Operating System – to have something on my Screen

Mail – Apples mail application

Adium – a chat application to connect to ICQ, Jabber, …

Safari – to browse the web

iTunes – to hear and organize my music/videos

iPhoto – to organize my pictures

NeoOffice – a copy of OpenOffice which is compareable to Microsoft Office

Calendar

Addressbook – for my PIM Data

Thats it…
Now it is your turn. What do you really need at home 99% of your time? I don’t think, that you will find many other things…

Why I have choosen a Mac last summer?
It is cool, sexy and has 7 of those applications out of the box installed. Everything is really good integrated. So i have alle the same contacts on my Addresbook and on my PIM Contact list, I can use drag and drop everywhere and so on…

What has Windows XP?
It is not cool, sexy and comes with only a few useable applications. Minesweeper and Solitair are the best I think ;). It has most applications available to install, because it is the mostly used operating system out there. It’s biggest advantage is, that everybody knows how to use it. The problem is, that the applications are not very good integrated with each other. So you always have redunand informations. (p.e. no centralized addressbook, which keeps all you contact information)

What has Windows Vista?
It is cool, sexy and has some cool applications on board. But I have to get a new computer to enjoy alle those nifty effects. As far as I could test it, it has many problems, espacially with drivers, unsupported file formats,…. It is build on XP and so many people should feel familar useing it. On application side, they copied nearly everything from Apple, so they made a big step forward, but they are still far beyond Apple, who will release his new operating in octobre 07, where they will take the next step.

What has KDE?
It comes with all applications you need in your daily life. You don’t have to get one application at all after installation. I will introduce the 4.0 Versions in the next few weeks. You may customize it like you want to in many cases (not just colors or the background picture…). The applications are really good integrated into each other. But they lack some kind of coolness. The GUI looks some kind of childish and unprofessional in Version 3….

So thats the point why I will introduce the Version 4.0 to you, the nerds out their who did a great job in last years to build a rock solid basement user interface got help from some great artists and usability experts. So together they are building some kind of new desktop experience you may like I hope….